Ulaanbaatar
The World Bank approves a new loan to improve productivity of livestock sector
Economy
Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/. The Board of Executive Directors of the World Bank has approved USD 30 million in loan financing for the Mongolia Livestock Commercialization Project.
The project will help improve the health and productivity of livestock and increase value of products such as meat and dairy by commercializing targeted value chains in selected locations.
With over 60 million livestock and wide pastureland,
the Mongolian agriculture sector, especially the livestock sector, has a huge
potential to drive the economic diversification and is a key source of
broad-based employment, according to World Bank.
Mongolian meat exports have stagnated at less than 10 percent of their potential
World Bank’s Country Manager for Mongolia Andrei Mikhnev emphasized that livestock productivity is the key to increase the competitiveness of this sector. Moreover, improving livestock health and productivity through the commercialization of value chain will help diversify the economy, create jobs, increase incomes in rural areas and, thus, improve food security. The 5-year project will be implemented by the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Light Industry of Mongolia.
As of today, about 56 percent of Mongolian herders own
200 or fewer livestock. Animal disease, coupled with poor food hygiene and inadequate nutrition, limit the output and quality of meat and dairy products. As a result, Mongolian meat exports have stagnated at less
than 10 percent of their potential despite the country’s proximity to the
region’s largest markets for meat imports.
